2015 Air Race Calendar Announced, Crews Start Testing

With the 2014 Red Bull Air Race season now fully closed, the pilots and crews competing in the 2015 season have already started testing, with the dates for the season also announced.

The 2015 season will see the planes fly in two new countries, with Chiba in Japan and Sochi in Russia joining the already established rounds in Abu Dhabi, Great Britain, Austria and America, with Hungary also reappearing on the eight round schedule. However, this comes as a cost to the rounds in Rovinj, Putrajaya and Gdynia, all of which get dropped for 2015.

The 2015 season starts in February, with Abu Dhabi hosting the opening weekend on the 13th and 14th of February, with the circus then moving to Chiba on May 16 and 17, with the weekend in Sochi taking place during the final weekend of the month.

Then it’s off to Budapest, home of the first Air Race champion Péter Besenyei, on July 4/5, with a trip to Ascot Raceway in August following. The back stretch of the championship once again features a trip to Austria and America, although the round at Spielberg, which was the closing venue in 2014, now takes place on September 5/6, with the crews heading to Fort Worth and Las Vegas at the end of September and the start of October.

“We’re always making efforts to bring the sport to our fans and we’re delighted that we can now officially announce that Red Bull Air Race will visit two new countries in 2015. We will race in Japan and Russia, nations full of enthusiastic motorsport and aviation fans, and once again Hungary, where the Red Bull Air Race has a great fanbase,” said Erich Wolf, General Manager of Red Bull Air Race GmbH.

2015 Red Bull Air Race Calendar

Abu Dubai, UAE

13/14 February

Chiba, Japan

16/17 May

Sochi, Russia*

30/31 May

Budapest, Hungary

4/5 July

Ascot, Great Britain

15/16 August

Spielberg, Austria

5/6 September

Fort Worth, United States

26/27 September

Las Vegas, United States

17/18 October

*To be confirmed

Meanwhile, several of the crews have begun preparations for 2015, with Paul Bonhomme and Besenyei all posting updates on Social Media, with Bonhomme testing his Edge 540 in Brazil and Besenyei testing his custom made Corvus Racer 540 in his home land.